Monday, May 26, 2008

Momentary Lapse of Reason

It all started with the cancellation of the Draper ICUP race this morning. That resulted in my sitting at the computer browsing eBay, killing time while I waited for the incessant rain to stop. One thing led to another and before I realized what had happened I was the proud owner of a new bike. Do I have a problem? My wife says yes. I say only time will tell. Now that the temporary insanity has passed, I find this staring me down each time I enter the garage:

At this point the only question I need to answer is whether I have enough courage to take it for a ride...

I find your judgment to be completely reasonable. Half the time I end up riding with the fork locked out on my geared 29'er b/c it rides so well. SS makes you tougher. Perfect logic and you'll love the bike! I'd tell you to race SS this year but those guys are hammers.

Actually, the first time I ever put some time in on a single speed bike was lap #1 in the 24hrs of Moab a few years back. In fact, it was on that same bike (maybe not exactly). I raced on Chucky Gibsons team and we won. I had a good time but will probably never own one. I'm just not tough enough.

Matt - There's not much of a story. This was a completely impulsive purchase on my part. If the race hadn't been cancelled this never would have happened. Right now I can't say if that was a blessing or a curse!

Andy - I'm hoping this bike in its current rigid form will result in a faster tt up Clark's.

Rico - I would assume it won't be long before the fork is switched out for something a bit more fogiving.

I run a White Bros. Rock Solid carbon fork on my Ramble Tamble. It is the only rigid I have ever used, but I really like it. I had a suspension fork on the first SS I had and I was always locking it out...

Sundance is a blast on the single. Nice and smooth one track, nothing overly steep, and nothing real flat. The trails at Corner Canyon are also excellent on the one-speed. The ICUP course seems almost intended for one gear. Tons of fun!

If you want to drop a little weight from the wheels, you could convert them to tubeless. Or use 26er tubes. 29er tubes are like lead pipes.